荷花公主The Lotus Princess

About this story

A scholar visiting Hangzhou encounters a beautiful woman by West Lake, leading to a mysterious romance.

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Source

This text comes from Aozora Bunko (青空文庫), the volunteer-run library of Japanese writing that is out of copyright. See this work on Aozora Bunko

Base edition (底本): 「中国の怪談（二）」河出文庫、河出書房新社
1987（昭和62）年8月4日初版発行

Typed in by Hiroshi_O. Proofread by noriko saito.

Yomimaru changed the spelling to modern kana and modern kanji, and replaced some archaic words with modern ones.

The furigana are Yomimaru's. In the app it is split into 4 parts.

Key vocabulary

秀才しゅうさい	A talented scholar; a person who passed the imperial exam.
老婆ろうば	Old woman; crone.
水仙廟すいせんびょう	Shrine of the Water Immortal (on Gushan).
稚児髷ちごまげ	A child's hairstyle with a looped chignon.
公主こうしゅ	Princess; daughter of a king or deity.
碧霞漿へきかしょう	A magical blue elixir with a sweet fragrance.
判官はんがん	A local magistrate or judge; here the crab king's title.
榛莽しんぼう	Overgrown thicket or brush.

Grammar points you'll meet

• ～てしまう N4Indicates an action is completed completely, sometimes with a nuance of regret. In the final sentence, it stresses that the princess has totally disappeared.

  そして、十じゅう足そくばかり行いくともう見みえなくなってしまった。

• ～そうになる N4A compound of the auxiliary そうだ plus なる, meaning 'almost become/do'. The subject almost lost sight of the two women.

  ときどき二に人にんの姿すがたを見失みうしないそうになった。

• ～ながら N4Connects two simultaneous actions; here the princess weeps while taking the baby from Peng's hands.

  女おんなはそう言いって泣なきながら彭の手てから児こを取とって乳ちちを飲のませていたが、すぐそれを彭に返かえしてひらひらと出でて行いった。

• ～たら N4The conditional 'when/if'. The crab king says, 'When you return home, have your mother take this.'

  帰かえったらこれをお母かあさんに飲のますがよい、これを飲のむと決けっして年としを取とらない。

• ～ように N3Expresses similarity or manner: 'as if (trying to escape)'. It makes the supernatural crab's movement vivid.

  それが紫色むらさきいろの鋏をあげて逃にげようとでもするようにもがいていた。

• ～という N4Used to define or name something: 'a scholar called Peng Defu'. It introduces the protagonist and the setting.

  南みなみ昌あきらに彭徳とく孚まことという秀才しゅうさいがあった。

Topics & grammar